For the second straight season the Los Angles Lakers cleared the deck, secured gobs of cap space went into the offseason expecting a max-level player to decide to don the purple and gold in LA. For the second straight season the Lakers whiffed, another star took less money to play elsewhere and Kobe and co. came out empty handed and are headed back to the drawing board.

How can an organization with so much history and a tradition of winning not be a free agent destination? The Lakers haven’t made a marquee signing since Shaq in 1996, ever since then just about every major addition has been by trade. There are plenty of extenuating circumstances involved with the high cost of living in LA, the high state taxes in California and a more desirable So-Cal destination right across the hallways in the Clippers locker room. But make no mistake, there is one reason that looms larger than any other and it isn’t even close.

Kobe Bean Bryant.

His bouts with teammates are long running and much publicized, from superstars like Shaq down to scrubs like the incomparable Smush Parker. Last week, Phil Jackson added another story to the saga with his recount of the Dwight Howard free agency meeting with the Lakers last summer.

“And Kobe made a moving speech during the pitch, promising to teach Dwight the secret of winning championships that he’d learned from the best in the game.

“If the meeting had ended there, it might have worked. But after the presentation, Dwight asked Kobe what he was planning to do after he recovered from his Achilles injury. Was this going to be his last year? “No,” replied Kobe. “I’m planning to be around for three or four more years.”

“At that point, according to others in the room, Dwight’s eyes went blank and he drifted away. In his mind, the game was over. […] A few days later he announced that he was signing with the Rockets.”

The passage is an excerpt from Jackson’s reissue of his autobiography Eleven Rings, and isn’t the first time Phil has raked Kobe through the coals in one of his books. At this point Jackson is pretty much just confirming what we already assumed – Dwight wanted no parts of playing with Kobe long term. Greener pastures (and less child support and zero state taxes and lower expectations) awaited him in Houston so D12 bolted.

Another reported reason for Dwight leaving was that he wanted to be a bigger part of the offense, and Kobe relented. Of course he did, Bryant’s a ball hog. There’s no way around this. Kobe is actually a historic ball hog, fourth all time in field goals attempted, and he’ll likely pass Michael Jordan for third by Thanksgiving.

For six of his last eight full seasons Kobe has finished the season as the league leader in field goal attempts.* Not including his abbreviated 2013-2014 season Kobe has averaged at least 20 field goal attempts in every season since Shaq left LA in the summer of 2004. Only 11 other players did it at least once in that time span, and only LeBron has done it more than three times. His six seasons leading the league in field goal attempts trail only Jordan’s nine and Wilt’s seven. Speaking of Mike, when Kobe cracked 2100 FGAs in the 2005-2006 season, he joined Jordan as the only person to do so since the NBA-ABA merger in 1976.

Kobe’s style of play just doesn’t mesh well with the new efficiency obsessed NBA. In that sense Kobe is like an ancient relic from eras past, where it was fine to take 35 shots to get 40 points if you won. And Kobe’s mindset is exactly that. He believes that the more he scores the more likely his team is to win.

Instead, in the new era of analytics, corner threes and avoiding long two point shots at all costs represents everything that Kobe isn’t. The newly minted NBA champs the Spurs featured the lowest leading scorer for a champion since the merger with Tony Parker’s 16.7 points per game. In today’s game, teams would rather a player take 12 shots to score 20 points than 30 shots to score 30 points.

Getty Image

So when you join Kobe, you’re not only going to get bitched at, but you’re also going to be watching him shoot a historic amount of shots while you try to get yours as well. Who wants to do that? That’s just about the worst guy to play with at the park or gym. The guy who shoots way too much while you just end up running up and down the court watching him. Why do that when you can play with another group of guys who share the ball, have fun and win. This is the dilemma for the Lakers as they watch stars after star choose to play elsewhere despite their championship laden history.

Then there’s the money issue, and this is where things get dicey. Kobe took a slight pay cut when he signed for $48.5 million for the next two seasons, but that number still puts enormous financial burden on the Lakers, even though according to Grantland the Lakers profited over $100 million last year. Combined with Steve Nash’s $9 million salary there is very little wiggle room for the lakers to improve their roster.

While many showered LeBron with praise for forcing owners to pony up the money he is owed, many of those same people chastised Kobe for not taking a massive Tim Duncan-ish paycut to help his team. Kobe’s reasoning was pretty much the same as LeBron’s: why should I be the one to take less money when it’s their job to figure it out?

The difference is LeBron is 29 years old, smack dab in the middle of his prime while Kobe is in the twilight of his storied career and coming off one of the most catastrophic injuries an athlete can suffer. He’s has definitely earned the right to force the Lakers to fork over the cash he’s owed, and clearly they have it, but he will also suffer the consequences of that payday.

Share This

* — The two seasons where Kobe didn’t finish first, he finished second. Coincidently he also won the NBA Championship in those two seasons.

Lol…so in order for Dwight to stay in la he wanted more touches to fumble about in the post and showcase his heralded post game? Look Kobe is no picnic to play with anymore than ai was but Kobe has the pedigree meanwhile Dwight has the jovial bullshit Dwight’s WORST career choice was adopting that superman moniker…Shaq had about a six year reign of dominance with two years of being the most frightening thing since chamberlain a great comparison would have been a declining Shaq who helped Miami get a ship and a Dwight in his prime in Orlando because peak Shaq would be unfair

Oh D12 isn’t blameless here. But at some point Kobe has to put pride to the side an accept a lesser role, especially after that injury. Him being completely unwillingly to do so is a major reason the lakers will be in the lottery for the entirety of that 2 year deal.

@Bansky… I want to 8 games at staples center when Dwight was here. He is a putrid offensive player yet could have been devastating as a pick and roll player but he chose not to. Kobe is a ball hog blah blah… Discount the fact that he played with corpses 2004-2008… Essentially until Pau was gift wrapped by the logo to the Lakers. Essentially when Kobe was the best player in the league and he was… 2004-2008 he had no help. I don’t discount that he shoots a lot but some context is needed here and BTW… Fuck Dwight biggest diva who can’t create his own shot and just shit on Chandler Parsons. Houston is 3rd beer team in Texas. As far as him taking less… I wanted him to but I would have and so would have you… He didn’t barter the real for the new collective agreement. The players gave way too much to owners. These dudes crying poor house yet teams are selling for all time high. It’s all bs. I’m a tad biased lol but you trolled me enough to respond.

I get the whole smaller role thing no question but Dwight is not the guy to defer to….Kobe i would imagine is pretty good at assessing talent at this point I’m sure Kobe would have had no problem playing off the ball more and catch/shoot if the cp3 deal went through I’m sure Kobe would take less shots if he knew somebody like kd was in the picture but we are talking about Dwight…someone whose dedication to win has been questioned by columnist, analysts, coaches, former coaches and former teammates different story

When it comes to sports… get all the money that you can because unlike other occupations, you will retire (or be forced out by injury) when others are just getting started and hitting their stride. So I blame no athlete when the get their money – at the expense of the franchise, or not. The organizations can always so “No.”

(And especially in the NFL where teams can cut a player at any given time and contracts are not guaranteed)

I am certain I am not the only one who knows professional athletes here on a friend/personal level. Most are terrible with finances. Some are intelligent enough to take that “hometown discount” because they are good with money. That percentage… is very low however.

Get your money. No one has to pay you… unless they want to. Fault? Lakers. Kobe is not worth the cap space at this point in his career but that is not his problem.

It is a travesty and a shame that there will continue to be athletes that go broke in a world in which that movie exists.
I was going to make my little brother watch it, only for him to ask me if I’d seen it before I could ask him!

And yet I see cats blowing money fast on all kinds of idiotic crap. I can’t tell anybody how they should spend their money… But it’s sad to see…

That’s all Melo was trying to do, and at least he was relatively upfront about it.

Nice to see Lebron was the other person averaging all those shots a game and not Melo. Folks need to leave Melo alone. As Uncle Drew would say “The name of the game is buckets!” and Carmelo Anthony is very good at getting buckets (hes just got to work on stopping them from being got as well)

How much does it cost to “feed a family”? If you’re trying to say that athletes are entitled to earn as much as they can, say that. But there are a lot of people in poverty that have to make decisions on the basis of “feeding their family”. NBA superstars sure as fuck don’t.

Again.. They went to 3 straght finals 2008-2010 and just last year brokered probably one of the greatest starting 5 ever assembled. Chill… Mediocre after 1 bad year compared to a body of success is a stretch… It will be a few years but it will get better.

@uliama Not sure whom you are responding to but even if it is not I… that is bad statistical data to back-up a claim. 2010 was a long time ago. Not saying they cannot get back in a quick manner (it is basketball a few trades and one good draft and your are right back in it)… however, Kobe will not be a part of it all. As great of a player he is and has been, his best days are clearly behind him. You can build around LeBron with him taking that type of check and that much of your cap space… you cannot do the same with Kobe. Michael Jordan won his last ring at a younger age (by 1-year) than Kobe will be at the beginning of next season. With injuries and age… it just seems highly improbable.

it was below mediocre last year.. it was mediocre the year before. kobe’s shot numbers rocketed up without shaq, but its not like they were low with him. 20 fga per game 3 times with shaq too. in his 2 injury free seasons with shaq he took more shots than shaq, top 5 fga both seasons. he shoots more than ANYBODY else in his era this is undeniable

Damn Phil reissuing the book to take more shots at Kobe.
Something we never do when discussing champions. The role of the coach. One day I was looking at Kobe winning/losing seasons. Without Phil Jackson how good is Kobe? None of us can say Kobe woulda won without Phil and vice versa. But those yrs without Phil I think showed us Kobe’s true colors as a player. Can drop 81pts but can’t take his team to the playoffs. Can make the 1st rd but not past it. Imagine what T-Mac or Vince or Dirk or Iverson career would look like with Phil Jackson. Roles could’ve been reversed.
In my opinion Kobe turns his teammates off because he’s tried to adopt the Phil Jackson style of zen-master but Phil is 4real and Kobe is trying but doesn’t have the tools or the training to apply it properly. So when Phil zen-master Kobe it resulted in going back to the finals. Kobe tried to Zen mastered gasol and it just felt like insults, same wit Dwight.

I honestly think alot of tha “phil-less” years of tha lakers lack of success also had to do wit tha fact smush fuckin parker was runnin point and he had kwame brown there…..ijs as tha roster adjusted they won

I got no problem with Kobe getting 48 mill over the next 2 years. No problem at all.

However, one thing that separates Kobe from MJ besides one among the most contrived and hypebeast-supported nicknames of all time and the other having “Air Jordan”—is MJ’s squeeze first ask questions last was far more organic by-product of the times and of what the Bulls had available to while Kobe shooting alot was just more of his Mr. Happy To Be An A**hole character.

When MJ came to the Bulls they had no reliable scorers, and by “reliable” i don’t mean 20-a-night. I mean couldn’t get their own shot with any consistency. George Gervin was on the wrong side of 33 as a Bull, Quinton Daley could get 25 a night–provided he wasn’t coked-up and hiding in some room of his house (true story)…

Jordan shot a ton. But it was Chicago at a time when Chicago was like Cleveland—no one good wanted to play there and they had no real legacy to speak of beyond “play defense” and watch Reggie Theus jack up 20 shots a night between making sure his Gheri curl was proper.

Also, despite those embarrassing last 3 seasons, MJ still has the highest FGM and FG% of any 2 guard in history. He’s still a career 50% shooter. He’d be a 52-53% were it not for his Wizard years.

Kobe has one of the lowest FG% for anyone taking a comparable # of shots. He’s a great shot maker with career-spanning horrible shot selection. Combine this with being an a**hole, it’s damn near impossible to get anyone good to play with him long term. In fact, if Shaq played any position other than Center, Kobe would have 2 rings, max because no one great needing the ball anymore than a center could put up his shennigans.

Also, I on’t expect everyone to be Tim Duncan. Tim’s probably left upwards of $100mill on the table in potential lost salary by not strong-arming the Spurs or going to another team. But he really really really likes being a Spur and has made his peace with his piece. So be it.

I don’t begrudge Lebron got waiting till the next CBA to cake up. he’s got more leverage than any star in NBA history—might as well use it.

I’m fine with Nash getting $9 mill, too.

My only issue is guys who aren’t realistic about the prospects of “money vs. chips.” at some point it really is that kind of a choice. it’s not fair per se, but sometimes that’s just the reality. You as a player might have to give up loot to win. If you can live with your decision either way, God bless you.

$10 mil is a LOT OF MONEY. Players choose to be jackasses about how they spend it. Timmy buys his jeans at Wal Mart, so it never mattered how much he left on the table; he can support his lifestyle. N-words need to stop acting like you can’t spend $50mil. You can. Easily.

Also, I’m sure that the Spurs have some kind of under the table deals going. All these guys have to be getting paid somehow. They all own part of the team or getting splits in like every business in San Antonio. Lol

Kobe is a SG who has averaged 4.75 assists per game while taking plenty of shots, ball hog barely. I refuse to judg Kobe as a teammate based off of what is said from grown kids, Shaq and Dwight. I do know other teammates especially Olympic squads are enamored with the guy, that’s enough for me. We an’t give Kobe shit for taking so many shots in 05-06 either, he had to, and it was some of the best individual basketball we will ever see

Shaq doesn’t get the credit he truly deserves for those first 2 seasons in Miami. Wade got to play against single defenders (just like Kobe did when he was with Shaq) because Shaq was still garnering two and three defenders at once plus loads of attention.

Dirk had the most perfect supporting cast that he will ever have, with a ton of players bringing something productive to the table, plus having LeBron be awful for the whole series didn’t hurt.

Now that Hakeem one, you got me lol. Those two teams are probably in the top 5 worst championship teams in the past 30 years. Even then, somehow, that supporting cast as a unit was at least productive.

Olympics basketball is such an aberration to way NBA team dynamics go, you can’t even read much into that. Players who are happy to just play 15 minutes a game in international play would scoff if you regularly gave them just 25 a night in NBA play.

“Shaq doesn’t get the credit he truly deserves for those first 2 seasons in Miami. Wade got to play against single defenders (just like Kobe did when he was with Shaq) because Shaq was still garnering two and three defenders at once plus loads of attention.”

Truth. That was back when I was a huge basketball fan and knew a championship was coming to Miami once they signed Shaq. Much respect to “Zo” (dude was a beast) but that championship would have never made it to the Heat if it were not for Shaq. That dude, in his prime, my goodness.

I actually believed Dwight was going to be the same type of dominating player.

IMO, Dwight isn’t going to lead a team anywhere near a championship! He may be the wing man but never the captain. People can talk about Kobe all they want. Ball hog. Selfish. Tough to play with. At the end of the day the man has been a part of 5 championship winning teams. Seems like his approach to the game worked out just fine for him.

As a Mavs fan, I can honestly say they dodged two bullets with Deron and Dwight. Dwight is a great player, but people kill me with the “he still has room to grow bs.” He’s played 11+ years and he had back surgery, he is what he is.

Kobe is an ass, but its not his fault the Buss FAM chose D’Antoni over Phil.

U right about harden being as big a ball hog as Kobe. But we know the shadow of Kobe is why Dwight left. Houston loses and it’s not Dwight’s fault it’s the teams fault. If Lakers lose media/fans will blame Dwight. If they win it’s Kobe the legend. Harden ain’t never gonna bark on Dwight the way Kobe would. Maybe Dwight needs it tho. It worked wit gasol but only so much and personally I think cuz Phil was there to fix it.

while people squabble over Kobe’s impact on the club and the luxury tax, but the Lakers will pay it and more without blinking, their last deal w Time Warner was worth 2 billion over 20 years, thats enough to cover the cap plus penalties for the next 20 years……..before they’ve sold a ticket….in 2 years when the cap is raised and kobe’s deal is done, we will have another BIG name